Indian troops kill two more youth in IOK

Srinagar, July 30, 2017 (PPI-OT):In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred two more Kashmiri youth in Pulwama district, today. The youth were martyred by the troops during a cordon and search operation in the area. The martyrs were identified as Shaikh Shariq Ahmad and Showkat Ahmad Mir. At least three rounds of funeral prayers were held for Shariq Ahmad as thousands of people thronged his ancestral Takuna village in Pulwama, today. He was buried amid pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.

Complete shutdown was observed in Bijbehara, the hometown of another martyr, Showkat Ahmad Mir, as news about his killing reached the town. People started reaching Mahend, the native village of Showkat Ahmad to participate in his final rites. People took to the streets in Samboora and Tahab areas of Pulwama and protested against the killings. Indian troops fired bullets, which left over a dozen protesters injured. At least five people critically hit with bullets were shifted to hospitals for treatment. The authorities suspended Internet services in Pulwama and adjoining areas immediately after the killings.

The Chairman of Hurriyat forum, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a statement issued in Srinagar said that India and its media were defaming pro-freedom leadership to subvert their role in settlement of the Kashmir dispute. He said that New Delhi was using its National Investigation Agency to implicate the freedom leadership in fake cases. The General Secretary of Democratic Freedom Party, Maulana Abdullah Tari while addressing a press conference in Srinagar, said that the Indian authorities had planned to kill the party Chairman, Shabbir Ahmad Shah. He said that Mr. Shah was being subjected to physical and mental torture in custody and had been kept in inhuman conditions.

The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in a statement issued in Srinagar, today, denounced the Indian authorities for unleashing an unprecedented spree of arrests against resistance leaders. The statement expressed concern over the prolonged detention of ailing JKLF Chief, Muhammad Yasin Malik. Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency has conducted a raid on the residence of Devinder Singh, who is a lawyer, in Nagar area of Jammu. He was interrogated about his links with resistance leaders. The Voice of Victims, a local human rights group, in a statement termed the bail granted to five Indian soldiers convicted in Machil fake encounter, as a murder of justice and blatant violation of human rights.